


Underestimations

by beepbeepsan



Series: A Spark in the Sea [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Brooding, Enemies, Episode: s01e03 The Southern Air Temple, Zhao (Avatar) Is An Asshole, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:07:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24315550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beepbeepsan/pseuds/beepbeepsan
Summary: Stuck in Zhao's tent as a reluctant guest, Zuko has plenty of time to think about his latest mistake: underestimating the Avatar.
Series: A Spark in the Sea [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1749640
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	Underestimations

**Author's Note:**

> Another character-centric internal development sort of fic. I guess I am not very good at writing plot. Hopefully this is still entertaining! 
> 
> And hey, at least I've now posted two whole (if short) fics in just a few days! Much better than my previous record of 3 years.

As he stews in Zhao’s tent, essentially a captive without chains, Zuko broods on his first encounter with the Avatar. He certainly had underestimated the airbender. He wasn’t too proud to admit that. Aloud, even!

But to search for two endless, thankless years, only to find that the long-lost Avatar is a prepubescent child? _Of course_ Zuko underestimated him. The Avatar had been wide-eyed and inexperienced, not the powerful master Zuko had expected. The boy came quietly just to protect a tiny, backwater camp that barely counted as a civilization.

How was he that young? Had the last several Avatars all died very young or in hiding, completing an entire cycle and ending back at Air? Or had this Avatar been, what, eleven years old for a hundred-odd years due to some weird Avatar spirit power?

(If the latter, might there be a way to harness that power? Zuko is nothing if not ambitious, and although he doesn’t particularly expect to live to old age himself, he wouldn’t mind keeping Uncle Iroh healthy and happy for years to come.)

Zuko guessed it was the former. After all, regardless of appearance, the airbender hadn’t _acted_ like someone with decades of life experience. For instance, he was apparently young enough to have no concept of honor. Or maybe the other nations put no stock in honor at all. Either way, the boy went back on his word almost immediately. He’s lucky Zuko _does_ understand honor and didn’t just turn around and blast that village out of the water. _At least_ I _can keep my word_ , Zuko grumbled to himself.

He’s careful not to say _that_ aloud, though. The first time Zuko had ranted to Uncle Iroh about the Avatar going back on his word, it hadn’t gone terribly well for Zuko. Iroh had gotten _technical_.

“What, exactly _did_ he promise you, Prince Zuko?” Iroh had asked curiously. He sat comfortably in Zuko’s room as the prince paced back and forth. Iroh had not been part of the landing party, of course, and so was forced to wheedle details (those that could not be spotted from a telescope, anyway) from his uncooperative nephew.

“He promised to come with me quietly, and then as soon as we set sail, he ambushed my men and tried to escape!” Zuko ended in a shout, as was his habit.

“Ah. Well, technically, he _did_ escape,” Iroh began, but he reconsidered upon spotting the vein ticking in Zuko’s forehead. “...but anyway, did he truly give his word that he would go willingly to the Fire Nation as a captive?”

Zuko had floundered at that. “Well, no! He just said he’d come with me. He didn’t really specify beyond that.” He’d rubbed the back of his neck a bit sheepishly before catching himself and quickly becoming defensive. “But he knew that’s what I meant!”

“Ah, I see,” Iroh had answered, nodding wisely, as was _his_ habit. “Then I suppose _you_ must have specified the terms of his capture when you accepted his surrender.”

“Well. No, I just. Nodded.” Zuko had said at a much more reasonable volume. Practically a whisper, for him. He had rapidly realized how little ground he had to stand on when Uncle was getting this nit-picky. Metaphorically; there was no real land anywhere in this spirits forsaken pole.

“I see.” Iroh said again. He brightened. “Then I guess he did not really break his word, did he? I admit it was troubling to think the Avatar might be a dishonorable man.” He frowned. “Well, boy. A dishonorable preteen?”

Zuko had just let out an exasperated groan and refused to discuss the matter further. He could tell when he was fighting a losing battle. Sometimes.

In any case, still annoyed by the Avatar’s disobedience to the _spirit_ of his word, if not the letter, Zuko reassures himself now that his own honor is in no worse a state than before.

 _Until you lied to Zhao_ , says a sharp, unwelcome voice in Zuko’s head. _Keeping important information like that from a Fire Nation commander? Tsk, tsk, Zuzu._

Zuko glares straight ahead and refuses to acknowledge the angry dancing of the lantern flames around him. He knows Uncle must have noticed already. _I am loyal to the Fire Nation_ , he thinks fiercely. _Zhao does not command me._

_Then why are you sitting in his tent like a goat-dog told to stay?_

Zuko clenches his fists. Getting angry will only play into Zhao’s hands. He tries to clear his mind, a difficult feat for him.

He watches Uncle sipping at his ginseng, looking perfectly content.

Zuko eyes his own untouched cup with suspicion. He’s never had tea that managed to calm him down, let alone made him look so _happy_. Maybe it’s an old man thing.

* * *

Bored and frustrated, Zuko’s thoughts return to the Avatar and his own failure. He had been so close to going home. But he had underestimated the airbender.

The display of the Avatar’s power had been incredible. He had seemed even smaller at the top of that giant, writhing pillar of water, but the glowing, otherworldly light made him impossible to miss. The Avatar’s sudden demonstration of waterbending—which most of the men, Zuko included, had never seen before—had left Zuko and his crew too shocked to put up a fight.

Zuko was swept overboard by a wave of the Avatar’s hand. Who knew water could feel so unyielding? Breathless and chest aching, he barely managed to snag a hold on the anchor.

He was forced to grab for the anchor’s chain again after an embarrassing encounter with the Water savage boy, whom Zuko had easily defeated before. Of all the aches and pains Zuko was nursing, the minor tenderness of his forehead was definitely the most bruising to his ego.

At the end of it, the Avatar was gone. Zuko’s ship was half-buried. Three of his men were entirely encased in ice. The Water tribe girl had done that on her second try, he was told later. He wondered what that had looked like in comparison to the Avatar’s impressive command of the sea. Being worse than the Avatar didn’t inherently make you a poor bender, but it sounded like the girl wasn’t very good.

Zuko vaguely remembered seeing her in the village. He’d scanned the meager crowd for old faces, only finding one that looked anywhere near old enough. No men, though, and all records pointed to the last known Avatar being a male airbender. He had grabbed the old woman by her coat. He’d only intended to demonstrate the age of his target, but Iroh had been very disapproving during their later discussion of the day’s events.

“Is it honorable to manhandle an elderly non-combatant?” He had asked Zuko pointedly. He was clearly expecting a particular answer, but Zuko hated admitting to mistakes, preferring denial and diversions whenever possible.

“I didn’t _manhandle_ her!” He’d protested.

When he had pushed— _gently ushered, Uncle_ —the old Water woman back into the crowd, she was caught by a young woman. At the time, Zuko barely paid the girl any attention. He’d noted her angry look but dismissed her as a non-threat. There were more important things to worry about than sudden attacks by Water savage teenagers—clearly Zuko could easily handle another one of those.

(We don’t talk about the boomerang. Or how Zuko ended up on his _face_ with his helmet perched on his _ass_. It is a _forbidden_ topic on the ship, and you are _not_ allowed to talk about it, Uncle!)

Now, Zuko tries to recall details about the girl, as well as the clumsy Water boy who had mounted that initial pitiful attack. They both appeared to be traveling with the Avatar on that... thing, at least for a short while. Zuko doubts they returned to the village. He hopes his enemies aren’t that stupid.

 _If I weren’t banished, I would have dozens of ships at my disposal_ , Zuko thinks bitterly. _I could send one—I could send a small fleet!—to the Water village just in case, while I continued to track the Avatar by sightings._ But Zuko _is_ banished. He only has one ship, crewed by criminals and disgraced soldiers.

Yet tasked with the impossible, Zuko has managed to prove its possibility. He _did_ find the Avatar. He _can_ complete his task and be welcomed home by his father. But he can’t afford to have others getting in his way. How is it fair for Zhao to swoop in after Zuko’s done all the heavy lifting? It’s not.

Zuko cares an inconvenient amount about fairness. One might think he would had learned to give up the concept as anything but a theoretical exercise, given his life experience. But despite everything, Zuko is still young and idealistic at heart. He just isn’t always clear on which ideals he’s aiming for.

* * *

He’s worked up, not fully grounded yet when Zhao returns. Zhao announces that Zuko and Iroh will be freed once Zhao’s troops have left in search of the Avatar; Zuko’s damnable ever-present emotional turmoil causes him to provoke Zhao.

“Are you worried I’m going to try and stop you?” He challenges without thinking. Zhao might not be royal, but he does have power. And Zuko holds a very complicated position. A tenuous one that could topple and burn at any moment.

Zhao _laughs_ at Zuko. One of the few things against which Zuko has absolutely no defense. He _hates_ being laughed at. Uncle Iroh tries to caution him against arguing, but Zuko is not very good at listening.

“You’re just a banished prince,” Zhao reminds him. “No home, no allies. Your own father doesn’t even want you.”

That hits hard. No one’s dared to say anything like that before—not to Zuko’s face. Zuko resorts to denial again. “You’re wrong! Once I deliver the Avatar to my father, he will welcome me home with honor and restore my rightful place on the throne!”

But Zhao is not backing down. “If your father really wanted you home, he would have let you return by now, Avatar or no Avatar,” he says matter-of-factly. “But in his eyes you are a failure and a disgrace to the Fire Nation.”

“That’s not true.” 

“You have the scar to prove it,” Zhao persists mercilessly.

Zuko can’t let that insult go. He lets out a wordless shout and stands face to face with Zhao, uncaring that he has to look up to meet Zhao’s eyes. “Maybe you’d like one to match!” He yells. He can feel his heartbeat pulsing behind his scar.

Zuko barely registers the rest of the tense conversation. He vaguely realizes he has signed himself up for another Agni Kai.

“Prince Zuko, have you forgotten what happened last time you dueled a master?” Uncle Iroh immediately asks him, not unkindly.

Eyebrows furrowed in anger, Zuko is keenly aware of the deadened tissue holding half his face in a stiff grimace. He can almost feel it burning, still, but he channels that feeling to fuel his inner rage and fan the fire in his belly. The reduced vision on his left side is undoubtedly a large weakness, but Zuko is, if anything, a survivor. He will squeeze every drop of usefulness that he can from his weaknesses; he will use his personal failures to stoke his drive to succeed.

He answers his uncle honestly. “I will never forget.”

* * *

He wins the Agni Kai. Uncle even praises Zuko’s honor while damning Zhao’s; a sweeter prize in victory than Zuko had dared dream for.

But this is inconsequential in the scheme of things. He must find the Avatar again—and this time, he won’t underestimate the airbender, young boy or not. Zuko knows very well: being a child is no excuse. Life is harsh, and you must be harsher to survive. It is Zuko’s duty to his father and his nation to defeat this threat, and so he will. He _will_.

Because what else can he do?

**Author's Note:**

> How'd I do on capturing early S1 Zuko?


End file.
